American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Byrne Asset Management LLC

Byrne Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,903 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 531 shares during the quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 463.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $581,914,000 after buying an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $886,426,000 after buying an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $600,072,000 after buying an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $287.62 on Friday. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28. The company has a market cap of $201.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $278.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.04.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

About American Express

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.